Voters in New Caledonia have rejected independence and decided to remain part of France. Late Sunday night the French government released provisional results showing 78,361 people voted No in the historic referendum, while 60,573 cast their ballot for Yes — a margin of 56.4% to 43.6%.
New Caledonia, an idyllic French Overseas Territory island territory in the southwestern Pacific, votes Sunday on whether to seek full independence from Paris, 18,000 km away Thirty years in the making, Sunday’s referendum will call 174,154 voters to the polls to test the appeal of remaining a part of France, a vector of state subsidies but also, some feel, a kind of neglect.